The defense attorney for a deputy charged with fatally shooting a Black U.S. Air Force senior airman in Florida’s Panhandle is a well-known litigator with decades of experience. He's also a former state lawmaker and prosecutor who unsuccessfully ran for governor. Attorney Rod Smith’s legal career includes the prosecution in the 1990s of serial killer Danny Rolling whose murder of five college students remains one of Florida’s most notorious modern crimes. Smith is a Democrat who represented a Gainesville district in the Florida Senate before an unsuccessful run for governor. Smith also chaired the Florida Democratic Party for three years.
